Random Renewables Thread

@DC999 - "I'm on a 24hr meter"

Any reason for that? For anyone using at least a third in night rate hours, it is already generally cheaper to get a day / night meter. It is free to get one installed. And if you have an EV and / or battery and / or try and use appliances at night and / or have even a small PV setup, it's a total no brainer

You will save a lot of money and a lot of emissions by using as much night rate electricity as possible, also stabilising the grid that will need more and more of that while total national electricity consumption is going up by 10% per year or more every year for the foreseeable future (while we transition away from fossil fuels)

If you're on a 24 hour meter then you're on the list to be changed over to a smart meter at some point regardless of whether you've solar or not

D/N meters aren't able to switched to smart meters, so if you switch to one now you won't get a smart meter until ESBN sort out the issues moving them over

I'd look closely at getting a D/N meter, you should still get your deemed export and Energia's EV plan is the cheapest night rate going

If you have a battery too you can charge it from the night rate and use it to offset some daytime usage on these dim winter days

Might as well get the free €30. A little reward for the many of us who promote renewable energy and energy awareness in our circles.

They know I'm on the cutting edge. That must be the reason I get all those communications first. And the giftcard of course.

So with gas prices easing off their all time highs for now, where do we reckon electricity prices will go over the next few months?

FWIW, my prediction is that gas prices will drop slightly but increase again in spring and Europe starts trying to refill storage. On top of that China easing COVID lockdowns and reopening their economy will drive demand for energy. So long term prices will stay high but might not reach the peaks they were at this year

So I think some of the smaller companies like Energia will drop prices a bit to undercut the competition and try and tempt a few people over, but we'll see high electricity prices into 2023, at least compared to 2020 prices

We're seeing inflation easing off, but it's still positive which means prices are still going up. There's talk of Europe entering a recession next year which may put downward pressure on prices, but that's unlikely to affect energy prices in the short term

What does everyone else think?

My Bord Gais discounts end in Feb. 29% on electricity and pretty high on gas also.

My usage is mostly shifted into the 2-5am cheap rate I have at just under 8.69c/kWh. Only saving grace in Feb/March is the payment that they're supposed to give for the export. I'm not seeing any suitable tariffs to move onto and not sure what they'd be offering now in the way of discounts.

There is a fairly good chance of some suppliers giving bigger discounts in the near future the way energy markets are at the moment. Wait and see is all we can do.

Silver lining is that just halved the pay back time of your battery 😂

Very glad I have more battery on the way. Should have about 40-45kWh in grid attached home batteries in the next few weeks

Nope, just admiring the frosty panels. No snow here mind, just ice ice baby

18W at the moment me - yesterday at this time 890W. Blue skies.

1.5kW currently in iced panels